The first Test between Australia and the West Indies has barely caused a ripple on the Perth sporting radar, with former captain Kim Hughes labelling the tiny attendance as woeful.

Only 7846 fans attended the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium on Saturday for day four - one of the lowest ever attendances for a day of Test cricket in Perth.

It continued on from poor attendances over the opening three days.

A total of 10,929 fans attended day one, followed by crowds of 8695 and 11,272.

Saturday's crowd was the lowest of the lot, despite not falling on a school day or a traditional work day.

Cricket Australia have been heavily criticised for scheduling the start of the Perth Test on a Wednesday, and for the lack of promotion.

The unappetising start date was caused by the tight scheduling window following the Twenty20 World Cup and three-match ODI series against England.

It was also done to better suit prime-time TV audiences for fans in the eastern states.

Hughes, a proud West Australian who captained the Test team from 1978 to 1984, was surprised by the low turnout on Saturday.

"It's a shocker. It's very disappointing," he told ABC radio.

"I would have thought maybe 15 (thousand) or 18,000 given it is Saturday and a lot of people don't work. And it is a lovely day, it's very pleasant inside the ground.

"It (the low crowd) is woeful ... terrible.

"It suits the east coast to have the game start on the day it starts. It suits the east coast. Even if they started this on a Thursday, then you could have had a Saturday and Sunday to plan for."

Paltry crowds were also a talking point during Australia's recent 3-0 ODI whitewash of England, with only 10,406 rocking up for the final match.

It was the lowest crowd for an ODI involving Australia at the MCG.

Fans can attend day five of the Perth Test with a gold coin donation, with funds raised going to charity Youth Focus.